I use a wheelchair and dread flying. Pets are treated better on planes than disabled people.

• TV host and travel writer Sophie Morgan was paralyzed from the chest down in a car crash at 18.
• She told BI that flying for disabled people is often extremely difficult and uncomfortable.
• Morgan founded the Rights on Flights campaign to change that and says she's confident attitudes are shifting.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sophie Morgan, an NBC and Channel 4 presenter and travel writer. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I'm a TV presenter, travel writer, and disability advocate.

I was in a car crash when I was 18 years old that left me paralyzed from the chest down. I've been a wheelchair user for 21 years this summer, the majority of my life.